When people got old, why did they always develop a passion for scrabbling in the earth? Were they trying to get used to it?

Of course we got drunk!" Semyon said. "It's okay to get drunk, Anton. If you need to real bad. Only you have to get drunk on vodka. Cognac and wine—that's all for the heart." "So what's vodka for?" "For the soul. If it's hurting real bad

When there are strange things going on all around, every coincidence should be considered very carefully.

What an unfortunate instrument the guitar is! An instrument of such great nobility, a genuine monarch of music-- reduced to a pitiful lump of wood with six strings, constantly abused by people with no ear and no voice.

Nobody can be forced to commit an act of villainy. You can't push anybody into the mud; people always step into it themselves.

Love is happiness, but only when you believe it will last forever. Even though every time it turns out to be a lie, it’s only faith that gives love its strength and its joy.

Evil has no need to bother with eliminating Good. It's far simpler to let Good fight against itself.